Comics tagged "Economics"

Here it is! One of the largest EBC strips to date. Photoshop automation and some Python scripting helped making the giant wall of comics (EBC #1 through #199), while our heroes were added by traditional digital drawing.

Interesting what can happen with an electronic-only monetary system, and even more interesting how effectively the E-Police seems to handle it. Also check out the song of the same name by Dutch composer Arjen Lucassen.

Paychips come in different flavors, depending on a customer's yearly income:

- Basic (below $10,000)

- Aluminium ($10,000-$19,999)

- Bronze ($20,000-39,999)

- Silver ($40,000-$59,999)

- Gold ($60,000-$99,999)

- Platinum ($100,000 and above)

The higher levels allow their users to have a higher charge and/or credit limit, much like credit cards in our time. Every citizen is entitled to a Paychip and can collect it for free at the city council, at banks, the Post Office, and so on.

While drawing this, we listened to Coldplay's brand new album, "A Head Full of Dreams." It's definitely their most pop-influenced album to date, and while I think it's not bad and will grow on the listener, "Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends" is still their best album, in my opinion. Leon introduced the band to me some weeks ago, after we got interested in them for their hilarious Red Nose Day clip, "Game of Thrones The Musical". Before that, I used to mock them for being just a "slower U2." I knew nothing.

I'll start drawing this week's last comic right now, and it will probably be uploaded today.

So that's where these pay chips come from. Tomorrow we're going to find out how they work.

Listening to "The Book of Souls" by Iron Maiden right now. A fantastic new album by a band I've been a fan of for 30+ years. The songs show a lot of variety; there are audible references to practically every era of the band's decade-spanning work. I would highly recommend the album to all Maiden fans and to music lovers in general.

Even today, politicians and economists are discussing ways to get rid of cash for good. Some countries, like Sweden, are even starting to try it out. I have mixed feelings about this whole notion -- it might be more practical, but it's also better for the Big Brother Department.

So the future is extremely colorful, as Jerry remarks. And a single company seems to hold a monopoly in many business areas: the Nevermind Corporation. I wonder if we're going to find out more about them...

The time travel adventure started in June, and for them, not many days have passed since then. And of course, they'll make sure to come home a few minutes after they left so that nobody will notice their absence.

This comic is in solidarity to people around the world who are fed up with brutal capitalism, with the rich getting richer and richer while the poor and the middle class get poorer and poorer. The #occupywallstreet movement started it all, inspired by earlier protests in North Africa, Spain, Israel and other places: people worldwide are beginning to be sick of "saving" banks and billionnaires while having to take 2-3 jobs to get along (if they even get a job in the first place). From New York, the movement has spread across the country and the world.

While the "Tea Party" still rebels in favor of the greedy and decadent 1%, more and more people are coming to their senses! Keep it up!

The farmer is right, of course. When the "Chicago Boys," a gang of economists including Milton Freedman, first introduced their "more market, less state" theories, they beta-tested these theories in Chile, where "security" consisted of the evil dictator Augusto Pinochet and his armed forces, who killed, imprisoned, and tortured tens of thousands of people. Subsequently, the Chicago Boys' teachings were applied to western democracies like the UK, the USA, and other countries, and are responsible for the current economy crisis. Recommended reading on this matter: "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.